Helping others experience a more intimate relationship with God

Seeing God in All Things

My wife and I were talking yesterday about some blessings in our lives this week. I had graduated from cardiac rehab and she had recovered from a cold. Then, my wife asked me if I could see God’s hand in our blessings.

My first thought was, “What did God have to do with these blessings?” Then, I realized that he had everything to do with my recovery from major heart surgery and her quick recovery from a cold.

We often have a hard time seeing God in all things unless we think about it. We have been trained to do life without God- and that’s the way we like it a lot of the time.

But how often is God in our lives and we do not know it? How often do I say grace over my breakfast and wonder how God had anything to do with the food before me? And yet he has had everything to do with it. “It is [I] who is giving you power to make wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).

God is all around us. “Where can I go from the Spirit? Where can I flee from [Your] presence?” (Psalm 139:7). He is everywhere and yet we often do not see the evidence that he is there. “Surely, the Lord is in this place and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16).

Is it important to see God in all things?

Yes!

Many of us want to “practice the presence of God” more in our lives. Then, we need to grow in seeing God in all things. How can we do that unless we can see and hear God in the variety of ways he reveals himself throughout the day?

He reveals himself in a flowering peach tree, in our recovery from being sick, and in the love from family and friends. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

We need to see God in all things when we face our challenges. Ten spies saw the challenges. Caleb and Joshua saw God as they exhorted Israel to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 13).

A third reason why it is important to see God in all things is to feel safe. “Do not fear for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10). “[I will cause] all things to work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

And finally, for some reason when we see God in all things, we are not as likely to become corrupt. ‘“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt” (Psalm 14:1).

Knowing that God is there helps us to remember that he “will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).